Snow Angels
by Raya Light
Summary: Oneshot. Ami goes skiing and finds a bit more excitement than she expected. Written for the Snow challenge in the SM Monthly LJ challenge community.


Title: Snow Angels  
Author: Raya  
SM Monthly Challenge Theme 11JAN06: Snow  
Genre: Drama  
Version: Manga  
Rating: PG

Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Takeuchi Naoko. I have merely borrowed them, as if they were dolls, for my own pleasure. I thank her for the opportunity.

**Snow Angels**

Dressed in a medium blue coat and pants that accented her hair, Ami balanced on her skies, lifted her goggles, and took a deep breath of clean mountain air. The smile on her face widened slightly as she looked at the majestic wonder around her. For the moment, she was the only human around. It sure was nice to ski in the middle of a work day, particularly at this gem of an unknown resort. Mentally, she made a note to thank Haruka for the advice.

She lowered her goggles once more, and pushed off onto the slope to continue her downhill glide. Cautiously, she kept track of her speed, trees, shadows, bumps, and the shiny patches that indicated ice. She didn't avoid most of the challenges. Instead, she used them to practice her data gathering, assimilation, and strategic planning skills. She also exercised her senshi reflexes more than once.

When she arrived safely at the foot of the hill, her cheeks were red, her blue hair windblown, and her cobalt eyes sparkling. The few men who were out watched entranced as she came to a stop and lifted her goggles once more. Being Ami, she didn't notice.

A dark-haired child nearby dressed in black pants and a purple coat, however, did, and smiled a smile that seemed much older than her apparent 10 years. She quietly waddled her way over to join the young college freshman who was once more getting in line for the lift. "How are the slopes today, Ami-san?" she asked as she came to a stop beside the older girl.

Ami started with surprise, and turned to look down at her. "Hotaru-chan!" she exclaimed. A pleased smile warmed her eyes. "What are you doing out here?"

"School hasn't resumed yet, and Haruka-papa decided that I needed some fresh air," the younger senshi replied. Although her polite expression did not change, Ami knew her well enough to see the amusement in her grey-violet eyes.

Ami quirked an eyebrow. "And you decided to come all the way up here to join me, hmm?"

"Sheer coincidence," Hotaru replied with a smile. "After all the raving she's done about this place the past couple of weeks, I just felt like skiing for a short while."

Ami nodded as they approached the lift. "Green, blue, or black?" she asked, referring to the difficulty of the slopes.

"I'm not up to the advanced trails yet," the younger girl responded a little shyly. "Either green or blue. I just finished a green."

"A blue then. I'd rather not do a black run myself yet. We can do it slow if you want," Ami replied. Hotaru nodded, and they waddled their way over to the lift for the intermediate slopes. As they went, they caught up quickly on the various things that had happened since they had seen each other at Minako's Christmas party the previous week. The ride up was spent in companionable silence, each enjoying the beauty around them and the other's company. Hotaru pointed out a falcon, lazily making circles in the sky, and Ami nodded with a smile.

"You know," Ami remarked suddenly as they slid off the lift and made their way over to the trail marker, "I would never have guessed that Haruka-san likes to ski. She always seems so... citified to me."

Hotaru laughed. "Oh but it's obvious if you think about it," she replied. When Ami gave her a curious look, she cocked her head to one side. "I was a bit curious, too," she admitted quietly. "After all, her professed favorite sport is auto racing. You would think all of this cold, quiet, natural beauty would be just the opposite of that. Setsuna-mama finally explained it to me, though." Her smile widened as Ami waited patiently. She could see the wheels turning in her older friend's mind. "She can embrace the wind," Hotaru finally said. "Directly. Her favorite way down the mountain is straight down with no stopping."

Ami laughed in response. "You're right. Put that way, it makes a lot of sense. So which trail?" They studied the sign for another minute, and then turned to look at each other with identical grins. "Snow Bunny Ridge," they exclaimed together. Their warm laughter filled the air as they took off towards the trail that reminded them of their young queen.

Ami kept a close eye on the younger girl as they made their way down the slope. Michiru had often insisted to her that Hotaru was not as frail as she had been when they first met. Ami had to agree as they skied. Hotaru handled herself and the challenges of the slope with as much strength and dexterity of any other girl her age. Her reflexes were even slightly faster than Ami's.

About halfway down the slope, Ami discovered that they weren't quite fast enough. The two girls zigged to avoid a patch of ice. At the last second, they realized that what they had thought was a twig was actually a buried pole. Ami was far enough on the outside to miss it, but Hotaru's ski caught it perfectly. The younger girl went down hard as her left ski was stopped abruptly.

"Hotaru-chan!" Ami cried in shock and fear. Quickly, she halted and kicked herself free of her skis. Pausing only long enough to prop them upright in the snow as a warning to other skiers, she made her way as fast as possible to the still form of the younger senshi.

"Hotaru-chan!" she cried again as she touched the young girl's face. Her eyes widened as she saw something dark stain her glove. A quick glance confirmed her fear: blood.

Ami shuddered for a second, and then her cobalt eyes hardened. Years of training and fighting snapped her out of her shock and into a sense of calm. Quickly, she examined Hotaru for any other signs of injury. She sat back with a sigh of relief when she found only a few bruises and scratches. Her eyes raced around, looking for something to use as a compress. Then, she made a soft exclamation of insight and satisfaction and drew off the ruined glove. Using the strap from her goggles, she bound it to the unconscious girl's head.

"Hotaru-chan?" she called softly as she gently shook the girl's shoulder. '_Has she always been so pale? Or did she loose more blood than I thought,_' she worried anxiously. "Hotaru-chan, please wake up. Hotaru-chan?" She heard a low groan, and a puzzled frown crossed her face. Hotaru hadn't moved. How had she made that sound?

Quickly, one and two and three came together to become six. A stray pole and a sound that did not come from Hotaru meant that someone else was out there. Ami scanned the area, and then made her way over to a large, white lump of snow. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized that the lump was actually a skier in a white outfit coated with snow.

"Are you all right?" she asked instinctively as she crouched down beside the person. Immediately, she felt a little silly. '_Obviously he's not,_' she thought to herself. '_He wouldn't be lying here creating a hazard if he were._' The thoughts of hazards made her head jerk up abruptly. Quickly, she dug out the discarded skis and poles and propped them up in the snow so that they would not trip anyone else. Then, she went back to the unconscious form and began to look for damage.

It was a man, she discovered as she pulled of his hat and goggles, a dark-haired gentleman in his late twenties or early thirties who surely should have known better than to wear all white while skiing. His left arm was bent oddly underneath him, but his right leg drew her most of her attention.. It was obviously broken. Bone had not pushed its way through skin, but it did make a pointy knob where no knob was supposed to be. She frowned as she considered the possibility of internal bleeding, and then continued her quick examination. A large bump on his head explained his lack of consciousness, and the chilly feeling of his flesh made her frown darken more. '_A fire. I need to get him warmed up before hypothermia or frostbite sets in,_' she thought to herself as she stood up.

Before she could move off in search of firewood, another, more feminine moan drew her attention back to Hotaru. Quickly, she scrambled through the snow to the younger senshi's side. "Hotaru-chan? Hotaru-chan, are you awake?" she asked anxiously.

Hotaru reached for her head, but made no move to sit up. "A... Ami-sa'?" she called weakly.

Ami's sigh of relief cut off short when she realized that the younger girl was blinking and frowning. With a taut face, she knelt back down beside Hotaru and looked into her eyes. The slightly unfocused grey-violet gaze confirmed her fears. "Easy, Hotaru-chan. You took a nasty fall, and I think you hit your head on a rock. You might have a concussion," she soothed.

Hotaru frowned up at her, and then closed her eyes and swallowed. "Hurt..." she said weakly.

"I know, I know," Ami replied gently. "Can you feel everything?"

Hotaru frowned. "Cold... Yeah..."

"I'll try to take care of that in a few minutes," Ami said reassuringly. "The cold part, that is. What hurts the worst?"

"Head," Hotaru moaned, and swallowed again.

Ami frowned suspiciously. "Your head hurts the most, and you can't see too clearly. Do you feel sick?"

"Yeah," the child replied weakly.

"Definitely concussion," Ami thought out loud. She placed a gentle hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "If you sit up, you will probably get very sick. Just lay there for now, but don't go to sleep. Okay?" Hotaru made a sound that might have been an affirmative. Ami shook her shoulder gently. "Okay? Don't go to sleep on me, Hotaru-chan."

The younger girl winced. "'kay, 'kay," she murmured. "Don' do tha'!"

Ami sighed, and bit her lip as she thought about what to do next. "I'm going to get a fire going, and then go get help. You have to stay awake, Hotaru-chan."

Hotaru's expression became hopeful, and then slightly irritated. "Know... Said..."

Ami's frown faded a bit. "I know. But there's someone else hurt here. I need you to do your best, okay?" Her frown became a small smile as Hotaru's expression became even more irritated. "I know, I know. You told me you would." The smile faded again. "But the cold and the pain might make you drift off. Fight it, Hotaru-chan."

The younger senshi reached out with her left arm and pushed weakly at the older one. Ami smiled once more, squeezed Hotaru's shoulder gently, and quickly rose to gather some deadwood for a fire.

All of the wood she could reach, however, was wet. She quickly went through most of her book of matches before she realized that it was a lost cause. She bit her lip and considered her two patients and then the mountain. Slowly, she made her way back over to Hotaru.

"Hotaru-chan?" she called. "Hotaru-chan. Hotaru-chan!" She watched the younger girl jerk awake. "Come on, Hotaru-chan, fight it. Stay awake for me. Please," she pleaded.

"Sor'," the younger girl whispered.

"I have to go for help," Ami said seriously. "I can't find anything that I can burn. I wish Rei-chan were here," she muttered longingly. "She can burn anything." She shook her blue head and addressed Hotaru again. "I'm going to have to move you, Hotaru-chan." The younger girl whimpered very softly. "I know. But, I think you're hurt less than he is, and I need to get you together so you can try to keep each other warm," Ami said apologetically as she slowly slid her hands under Hotaru's shoulders. "Easy now. Here we go..." As gently as she could, she slid the girl across the path to the unconscious man. Hotaru tried to be brave, but the pain made her sob softly and squeeze her eyes shut. Ami tried to get her as close to the man as she could, and then took off her jacket to lay across them.

"It's not much," she said helplessly, "but it should help some. I'll be back soon. I promise. Please hang in there, Hotaru-chan."

"Yeah," Hotaru replied very softly. "Hu... hurry ba'."

Ami quickly hurried over to put her skies back on. As she drew Hotaru's goggles onto her face, she took one last look at her charges. Then, she turned and took Haruka's favorite path: straight down the mountain. She crouched and pushed herself, taking full advantage of her senshi skills and reflexes. Her navy blue sweater did not provide much protection from the wind, and she was chilled to the bone before she reached the three quarter mark of the trail.

However, it did make her very obvious against the white snow. Her speed and apparent recklessness quickly drew attention, and a small group of people met her at the foot of the slope. Among these people were two members of the ski patrol. She cut their blistering lecture short when she passed on her news, and a rescue was quickly organized. Ten minutes later, wrapped in a jacket one of the men had lent her, she directed the driver of the lead snowmobile to her wounded patients.

Several hours later, she huddled under a blanket at the local hospital with a cup of coffee clenched between her hands. "Ami-san!" she heard a familiar voice call urgently. She raised her head, and gave Michiru and Haruka a faint smile. "Ami-san! What happened? How's Hotaru?" the aqua-haired senshi of Neptune asked anxiously.

"Hotaru-chan's fine," she said as reassuringly as she could. "She has a minor concussion, a strained groin, some bumps, and some bruises, but I think the doctors will let her go home shortly."

"Con... You call that fine?" Haruka bit out as she clenched her hands.

Ami merely quirked an eyebrow. "Compared to some of her previous injuries," she said quietly, "yes. She's also in much better shape than the man we found." Hotaru's two guardians blinked a little in surprise. "He's suffering from hypothermia, some frostbite on his toes and fingers, a broken leg and what appears to be a serious head wound. He's lucky we found him," she continued as she looked back into her coffee once more. "They said he would probably have been dead less than an hour later."

"Yep," a masculine voice put in. The leader of the ski patrol, having heard the last part, wandered over. "If it hadn't been for those two snow angels, Prince Michelev might have disappeared without a trace. He's an expert skier. His favorite slope is Ice Dragon Pass." Haruka's eyes widened at the name of the resort's second most treacherous trail. "We would never have thought to look for him on Snow Bunny." He looked over at Ami. "His coat has a tracer and emergency beacon built in, but it was apparently damaged when he fell. We never knew he was in trouble." He paused, and then continued. "I wouldn't want to work for DM Electro right about now... Anyway, he's really lucky you two stumbled across him, Miss...?"

Ami blinked at him. "Ummm... It was nothing. An accident, really," she said finally. "If he had been wearing something other than white, someone else would have found him earlier. I'm just glad he's all right."

The leader of the ski patrol studied her embarrassed face for a moment, and then nodded his understanding. "Of course, Miss Angel." With a bow, he walked away. Ami fought hard not to squirm as Michiru and Haruka smiled at her in amusement.


End file.
